FISHERMEN IN WAR TIME 



" It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and we 

 were hauling. We had got our otter-boards up to 

 the gallows and should soon have had the cod-end 

 of the net unlashed when we saw, all at once, ten 

 torpedo-boats and three cruisers, and as soon as they 

 hove in sight we knew that they were Germans. 



" One torpedo-boat rushed up — she was like an 

 eel, and must have done forty knots. She came 

 quite alongside and made her bow rope fast to our 

 bow ; then, while the German sailors covered us with 

 revolvers, the commander shouted to me and ordered 

 me to produce the ship's papers. That was all he 

 wanted — he bullied and scurried us about, and would 

 not let us stop to get any of our belongings. 



" There was nothing for it but to obey, and so 

 we jumped on board the torpedo-boat, and imme- 

 diately Germans were sent on board the Lobelia and 

 put bombs in her engine-room, then the torpedo- 

 boat cast off and steamed some distance away, and 

 we saw the Lobelia blown to pieces. 



" All this had happened so swiftly that I could 

 hardly realise it, then I saw that there were other 

 two fishing crews on board the torpedo-boat, and 

 that these craft were scurrying round destroying all 

 the British fishing vessels that they came across. 

 These fishing vessels were absolutely helpless, and 

 had not the slightest chance of escaping or defending 

 themselves. 



" It was only ten minutes after we left the Lobelia 

 that she blew to pieces, carrying with her every 

 stick and stone that I possessed — and it was the 



60 



